Insights and Highlights from Day One of the China International Semiconductor Expo 2024
Today, the 21st China International Semiconductor Expo (IC China 2024) officially opened in Beijing. As the only exhibition organized by the China Semiconductor Industry Association, IC China has been successfully held for 20 consecutive sessions since 2003, becoming the most authoritative and professional major annual landmark event in China's semiconductor industry.
IC China 2024 will last for three days and will host over ten specialized forums, including the "Opening Ceremony and Keynote Forum" and the "2024 Global IC Entrepreneurs Conference." The event has invited prominent guests such as leading experts in China's semiconductor field, heads of top semiconductor enterprises, renowned figures from industry associations, partners from premier investment institutions, and deans and professors of microelectronics colleges. They will engage in high-level dialogues on topics like artificial intelligence, automotive chips, semiconductor manufacturing, and new materials.
Here are some of the speeches delivered by the guests:
Chen Nanxiang, Chairman of the China Semiconductor Industry Association:
Uniting Consensus from All Parties to Promote the Development of China's Semiconductor Industry
Chen Nanxiang stated that since 2003, under the leadership of various ministries and commissions, and with the attention and strong support of numerous directors, member units, and industry colleagues, the China Semiconductor Industry Association has successfully held 20 consecutive sessions of IC China. These events have provided a platform and opportunity for connecting the upstream and downstream demands of the semiconductor industry and for international cooperation and exchange.
Standing at the new starting point of the 21st session, as the semiconductor market gradually emerges from its trough and the industry enters a new phase of technological innovation facing new opportunities like artificial intelligence, we continue to host IC China 2024. We aim to gather the strength of all parties to build a full-industry-chain support platform, an international cooperation platform, and a problem-solving platform for the semiconductor industry.
Chen Nanxiang pointed out that since the beginning of this year, global semiconductor sales have gradually moved out of the downward cycle, ushering in new opportunities for industrial development. However, there are still changes and challenges in the international environment and industry development.
In facing the new situation, the China Semiconductor Industry Association will unite consensus from all parties to promote the development of China's semiconductor industry. When encountering industry hot spots, it will speak out on behalf of China's industry; when facing common industry problems, it will coordinate on behalf of China's industry; when dealing with industry development issues, it will provide constructive suggestions on behalf of China's industry; and when attending international peer conferences, it will make friends extensively on behalf of China's industry.
Academician Ni Guangnan, Chinese Academy of Engineering:
Promoting Open-Source RISC-V and Strengthening the Integrated Circuit Full-Industry-Chain Development
Currently, open source is deepening its applications in new-generation information technologies, expanding from software to hardware represented by RISC-V. The open-source RISC-V architecture offers new opportunities for the global chip industry. Chinese and global developers have made significant collaborative contributions, positioning China as a key player in the open-source RISC-V domain and simultaneously driving global open-source initiatives.
China is already a major force in the open-source community, but we must further increase our "contributions" to become a leading nation in open source. Developing the RISC-V ecosystem aligns with global trends, meets national needs, and fulfills industry expectations.
Academician Ni emphasized that the spirit of scientific openness is a powerful driver for the advancement of open source. In the face of a complex and volatile international landscape, promoting open-source initiatives requires upholding and protecting the open-source spirit to eliminate interference and ensure the healthy development of open source.
In the past, China's integrated circuit industry chain was often divided into four segments: "chip design," "chip manufacturing," "packaging and testing," and "downstream applications." To advance the development of the integrated circuit industry, we must adopt a systematic approach, recognizing the interconnections and interdependencies of each segment. The rise of open-source RISC-V presents an opportunity to strengthen and refine the entire integrated circuit industry chain (as shown in the diagram).
The development of intelligent computing places new demands and challenges on computing architecture, including higher performance, lower power consumption, enhanced parallel computing capabilities, and stronger security guarantees. While software customization has become widespread in recent years, hardware customization remains a challenge. RISC-V-based DSA (Domain-Specific Architecture) may offer a promising path in both areas.
The RISC-V design philosophy inherently includes DSA concepts. The architecture features modular and customizable extension instruction sets, providing significant space for expansion. This allows users to create a tailored instruction set and corresponding hardware modules for specific applications or new operations, enabling the construction of highly efficient DSA systems. Moreover, Ni highlighted that trends from SoC to Chiplet can improve chip yields and reduce costs.
Ni also noted that foundational software plays a critical role in the "chip design" and "downstream applications" segments of the integrated circuit industry chain. The development of RISC-V brings new opportunities for China's foundational software.
The design of general CPU architectures typically requires foundational software support, and the RISC-V architecture's customizable instruction set functions are closely tied to foundational software. Foundational software supports the design of custom extension instruction sets during the design phase and assists downstream applications in utilizing the extended instruction sets and corresponding specialized hardware modules (e.g., using Chiplet and interconnection technologies to implement specific operator functions). RISC-V thus provides new opportunities for foundational software development. Institutions like the Institute of Software at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the open-source communities it supports have received high praise from the international RISC-V industry.
Chen Jie, Co-President of the New Tsinghua Unigroup:
Innovating with Integrity to Embrace Opportunities and Challenges in the AI Era
In recent years, driven by advancements in large-scale model algorithms, high-performance computing chips, and high-quality datasets, generative AI technology has developed rapidly, achieving significant breakthroughs. GPT-4 has successfully passed the Turing test, signaling hope for the realization of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
Chen Jie noted that AI is sparking a new wave of technological revolution. From single intelligence in language and multimodal models to reasoning with the Chain of Thinking (CoT) in OpenAI’s o1, and further to intelligent agents (AIAgents) capable of completing complex tasks using tools, AI’s foundational capabilities are evolving rapidly. AI is set to become the infrastructure of the intelligent era, integrating into every aspect of production and daily life, transforming industries, and driving a new wave of technological and industrial revolution.
However, the development of AI also faces three major challenges:
Business Model: Massive resources are currently being invested in general-purpose large models on the cloud, but their commercial viability remains uncertain.
Energy Supply: As Jensen Huang pointed out, while no physical law prevents AI data centers from expanding to a million chips, their energy demands may require nuclear power plants.
Technical Pathways: Sole reliance on text-based training will never achieve intelligence close to human-level.
Chen emphasized the need for innovation with integrity to tackle these challenges. He suggested closely monitoring international AI technology trends and focusing efforts on breaking through critical technological bottlenecks that have proven effective. To avoid redundant investments, resources should be consolidated to establish a few large-scale intelligent computing centers, ensuring China has several "Monkey Kings" at its disposal.
Chen also highlighted the importance of exploring new technical pathways in AI, fostering innovation in architecture, systems, edge devices, and applications. Leveraging China’s advantages in diverse applications and large market size, he urged the country to actively build a global hub for AI applications.
Ju Long, Global Vice President and President of SEMI China:
Opportunities and Transformations in the Global Semiconductor Industry
This year, the semiconductor industry is forecasted to achieve 20% growth, surpassing $600 billion, and is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030, with AI as the primary growth driver.
Global investment in semiconductor manufacturing continues. In the chart, the yellow sections represent infrastructure, while the blue sections denote equipment.
In 2023, global semiconductor equipment sales reached $105.6 billion, a year-over-year decline of 1.9%, primarily due to weak chip demand. However, China's semiconductor equipment sales in 2023 grew by 28.3% year-over-year, defying the trend. This reflects strong demand for mature node technologies and the resilience and vitality of the industry in mainland China.
On the path toward a $1 trillion semiconductor industry, several factors are driving growth, including AI, emerging market opportunities, electric vehicles, IoT, heterogeneous integration, and advanced packaging.
The emergence of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Google Bard, centered on consumer applications, may usher in a decade-long era of AI-driven growth.
As Moore's Law slows, the cost of R&D and chip iteration for advanced processes continues to soar. Public data indicates that the development cost for 5nm chips exceeds $500 million, while the cost for 3nm chips surpasses $1.5 billion. Against this backdrop, the industry is seeking new breakthrough directions, bringing Chiplet technology and heterogeneous integration to the forefront as key areas of focus.
Heterogeneous integration is a technology that integrates different types of chips, devices, or materials into the same package. This approach allows chips to possess diverse functionalities, processes, and characteristics, enabling more versatile applications and higher performance. However, the greatest challenge lies in ensuring interface compatibility among different chips. Alliances such as UCIe are working to establish unified design standards. Concurrently, investment in packaging and wafer technologies is accelerating.
Ju also highlighted the talent shortage in the integrated circuit industry, primarily at the senior and mid-levels, which together account for 93% of the total shortage. Senior-level talent is the most in-demand, comprising over half of the shortage, while top-tier talent represents only 6% of demand, as enterprises require relatively fewer such specialists. Entry-level talent faces a significantly lower shortage, accounting for just 2%.
According to the China Integrated Circuit Industry Talent Development Report, the workforce in China's integrated circuit industry reached 602,000 in 2022. By around 2025, the industry's total talent demand is projected to reach approximately 803,700.
Wu Mingxia, General Manager of Micron China and Vice President of DRAM Assembly and Test Operations:
Empowering the Digital Future: Micron's Innovation and Sustainable Development in China
Wu Mingxia stated that Micron has been deeply rooted in China for over 20 years, establishing a full-service ecosystem encompassing development, design, manufacturing, sales, and support. The company remains committed to providing solutions in key areas such as data centers, automotive, intelligent edge computing, mobile communications, and PC clients. Micron will continue investing in China, leveraging innovative technologies to support its customers and partners, and contributing to the development of a digital China.
Micron established its first office in Xiamen in 2001. Over the past two decades, China has become one of Micron’s largest global markets. Micron’s operations in Xi’an, Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen are increasingly robust.
The Xi’an facility has ranked first in total import and export value in Shaanxi Province for 17 consecutive years, making a significant contribution to the local economy. In June 2023, Micron announced an additional investment of RMB 4.3 billion in the Xi’an factory to enhance production capacity, including the construction of new packaging and testing facilities. These new facilities will house more advanced packaging and testing equipment, capable of meeting the needs of both domestic and international customers.
The new Xi’an facility will introduce a cutting-edge production line to manufacture a broader range of product solutions, including but not limited to mobile DRAM, NAND, and SSDs. This will expand the existing DRAM packaging and testing capabilities of the Xi’an plant. The new facility began construction in March of this year, and by November 2, its main structure was successfully completed. Wu emphasized, "Our goal is to establish the Xi’an factory as Micron’s first Center of Excellence for Sustainable Packaging and Test Manufacturing."
Song Jiqiang, Vice President of Intel Labs and President of Intel China Research Institute:
Product Design and Process Technology Innovations for the "Intelligent Computing Era"
Since 2023, Intel has introduced the concept of AI PCs and is accelerating the deployment of intelligent computing from cloud to edge, driving the development of the digital economy and facilitating industrial transformation and upgrading.
Song Jiqiang explained that in the intelligent computing era, Intel has launched two distinct types of product designs, each with its own focus. One is targeted at PCs, featuring XPU architecture that integrates multiple processor types to support AI applications, enabling them to work in tandem. The other is server-grade products, such as the Xeon 6 server chip, which features 128 performance cores for enhanced performance and can directly use Xeon processors for large model inference and training.
Intel's 18A Chips Achieve Milestone
Song revealed that Intel's 18A chip has successfully powered on. Intel 18A is the first foundry node to combine RibbonFET (all-around gate transistors) and PowerVia (backside power delivery). The 18A chip is now operational and has successfully booted its operating system. It will be used in next-generation client and server products launching next year, with external customer products expected to complete tape-out in the first half of 2024.Expansion in Chengdu and Strengthened Local Support
Intel plans to expand its packaging and testing base in Chengdu to enhance local supply chain capabilities and customer support. The additional capacity will provide packaging and testing services for server chips. In response to the demand from Chinese customers for high-energy-efficiency and customized packaging solutions, Intel has also established a Customer Solutions Center to act as a one-stop platform for driving enterprise digital transformation and accelerating industry application deployment.Meng Jianyi, Rotating Chair of the RISC-V Working Committee and CEO of Zhihe Computing:
Opportunities and Challenges for RISC-V in the AI Era
The RISC-V ecosystem is growing rapidly, with global membership exceeding 4,400 and a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40% for product shipments by 2030, indicating rapid expansion.
The development of the AI era is driven by transformative changes in the production relationships of computing architectures. In chip manufacturing, the foundry model has altered the production relationships of "chip manufacturing"; in chip design, the ARM licensing model has transformed the production relationships of "chip design"; and in computing architecture, RISC-V is set to reshape the production relationships of "chip architecture."
Meng Jianyi stated that RISC-V is poised to become the foundational technology driving the transformation of computing architectures in the AI era. Currently, existing architectures are entering a phase of heterogeneous integration, with open architectures enabling finer granularity of integration and unlocking more possibilities for success. High performance and AI will be the key themes for RISC-V's next stage of development.
However, RISC-V faces three major challenges in the AI era:
Its deployed products are primarily mid- to low-performance.
The software ecosystem is still in the developmental stage.
High-performance products have yet to achieve iterative advancements.
Meng also noted that by 2024, the RISC-V general computing ecosystem will have gradually matured, officially entering the stage of commercial software porting, signaling the formal beginning of its commercialization iterations.
Nexchip(晶合集成): A Year Full of Challenges
For the semiconductor industry, this year has undoubtedly been a challenging one. However, driven by the strong momentum of localization efforts, the wafer foundry sector has seen a significant boost.
This year, Innotron Integrated achieved substantial growth in new capacity for display driver ICs (DDIC), image sensors (CIS), and logic chips. All of these newly added capacities are operating at full capacity, with capacity utilization rates expected to remain high into the fourth quarter of 2024. The company had previously planned to expand production by 30,000–50,000 wafers per month in 2024, and this expanded capacity began to be gradually released in August of this year. The company has achieved large-scale mass production on process platforms ranging from 150nm to 55nm, and the 40nm high-voltage OLED chip process platform has entered small-batch production.
Additionally, this year has seen exceptionally strong demand for localized products, particularly in the CIS domain, which is primarily focused on mature process nodes. Domestic wafer foundries have already achieved comprehensive coverage in these mature process nodes, enabling them to capture significant market demand. The situation for DDIC is similarly favorable.
Looking ahead, the company plans to continue expanding capacity across multiple product domains next year to meet the growing market demand.
China’s wafer manufacturing industry must not only accelerate breakthroughs in mature process nodes but also strive for continuous improvement in advanced process technologies. Achieving this goal will require greater efforts from the equipment sector to provide robust technological and equipment support for wafer manufacturing, thereby promoting the steady development of the entire industry.
China Resources Microelectronics(华润微电子): Increasing Localization of Automotive Power Devices
The power semiconductor market has been stable this year, with a noticeable trend toward localization in automotive power devices. As the proportion of automotive power semiconductors in the total vehicle value continues to rise, the power semiconductor market is gradually expanding.
Automotive customers have been a key area of focus for breakthroughs this year. The company has signed strategic cooperation agreements with FAW Group, Geely Technology, and BYD's Fudi Power, forming a "vehicle + component + chip" strategic alliance. Additionally, it has initiated product integration and technical collaboration with other automakers such as Changan and NIO.
Future investment priorities are focused on two main areas: power modules for electric vehicles and third-generation semiconductors. Leveraging its IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturing) model, the company has been strategically investing in the third-generation semiconductor sector for years, particularly in power semiconductor devices based on gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC).
Utilizing its expertise in the design, manufacturing, and sales of silicon-based devices, the company established China's first 6-inch silicon carbide semiconductor production line, covering both wafer fabrication and final product packaging. The 6-inch SiC and GaN wafer lines are now in stable mass production, delivering large-scale shipments to leading customers in consumer, industrial, and automotive sectors.
Konfoong Materials International(江丰电子): A Strong Year for the Semiconductor Materials Industry
With the continuous growth of the global semiconductor market, the semiconductor materials industry has performed well this year. In the first three quarters of this year, Jiangfeng Electronics achieved a revenue of RMB 2.625 billion, surpassing its total annual revenue from last year.
The company's sales network spans Europe, North America, and various parts of Asia, with products used by numerous well-known domestic and international manufacturers in the semiconductor, flat panel display, and solar cell industries.
Currently, the company's capacity utilization is robust. It is enhancing the mass production capabilities of its core products through fundraising projects, improving bottleneck processes with refined management practices, and actively constructing intelligent production lines to gradually boost production efficiency.
In the coming years, localization is expected to be the primary driver of growth in China's semiconductor materials market. Semiconductor components are the cornerstone of the semiconductor industry, and their localization is crucial for ensuring the security of the domestic semiconductor sector.
We have been ramping up production at several of its manufacturing bases, with numerous new products overcoming technical challenges. Key components such as gas distribution plates (showerheads) and silicon electrodes are being rapidly scaled up, filling gaps in localization. As the global semiconductor industry continues to expand and localization accelerates, Jiangfeng Electronics is well-positioned to capitalize on its significant market potential.